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Sex tourism is travel for the predominant purpose of engaging in sexual activity, not necessarily with prostitutes.

The World Tourism Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, defines sex tourism as "trips organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary purpose of effecting a commercial sexual relationship by the tourist with residents at the destination". The U.N. opposes sex tourism citing health, social and cultural consequences for both tourist home countries and destination countries, especially in situations exploiting gender, age, social and economic inequalities in sex tourism destinations.

While sex tourism can refer to a variety of commercial sexual activities, agencies and academics sometimes also use the terms: adult sex tourism, child sex tourism and female sex tourism to refer to different kinds of sex tourism. Attractions for sex tourists can include reduced costs for services in the destination country, along with either legal prostitution or indifferent law enforcement and access to child prostitution.

Overview

Nowadays, international tourism is a major global leisure activity, which, in 2007, generated revenues to host countries of about US$ 856 billion. But this tourism is highly competitive and volatile, so that travelers may switch destination from year to year, or not travel at all, for any of a large number of reasons.

Some destination countries have become, to varying degrees, dependent on the revenue which tourists bring into their countries, and are very sensitive to any factor which may impact on the number of tourists that would be attracted to their countries.

People travel for a large number of reasons, and a proportion of international tourists travels for the predominant purpose of engaging in sexual activities. Some countries or areas have become popular destinations for sex tourists, also for a wide range of possible reasons.

With the exception of child prostitution, the legality of sex tourism is regulated by the laws of the host country. These laws vary considerably from country to country, and the enforcement of these laws is at times selective. In some countries it may be illegal and strictly enforced, while in others it is not normally enforced at all.

Destinations

National destinations for sex tourists include Thailand, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Kenya,

An individual city or region can have a particular reputation as a sex tourist destination. Many of these coincide with major red-light districts, and include Amsterdam in the Netherlands; Zona Norte in Tijuana, Mexico; Boy's Town in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico; Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil; Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket in Thailand; Vladivostok in Russian Far East, destination for Asian sex tourists , and Angeles City, the site of a former United States military base in the province of Pampanga, Philippines.

In the United States, prostitution is largely illegal, with the exception of certain areas of the state of Nevada and Rhode Island; these have become a sex tourist destination for some Americans. To a lesser extent, several other large cities in the U.S. are also domestic sex tourist destinations despite legal sanctions on prostitution.

Many of the Iraqi women fleeing the war in Iraq are turning to prostitution. In Syria alone, an estimated 50,000 refugee girls and women, many of them widows, are forced into prostitution just to survive. Cheap Iraqi prostitutes have helped to make Syria a popular destination for sex tourists. The clients come from wealthier countries in the Middle East. High prices are offered for virgins.

Conversely, prostitution is a legal activity in a growing list of other nations worldwide, including in many (but not all) of these destinations.

Female sex tourism destinations

The primary destinations for female sex tourism are Southern Europe (mainly Italy, Greece, Croatia , Turkey, and Spain), the Caribbean (led by Jamaica, Barbados and the Dominican Republic), parts of Africa (Tunisia, Gambia, Kenya ), Bali, and Pattaya or Phuket in Thailand. Lesser destinations include Nepal, Morocco, Fiji, Ecuador and El Salvador. An estimated 650,000 Western women have engaged in travel sex from 1980 to the present, many of them as repeat customers. By some estimates, 80,000 North American and European women flock to Jamaica for sex every year.

Adult sex tourism

Adult sex tourism (AST), which is unrelated to Child sex tourism (CST), is travel to engage in a sexual activity with consenting adults or paid prostitutes. Adult Sex Tourism is unrelated to forced prostitution or sex trafficking. The sexual activity is generally illegal in the traveler's home and legal in the traveler's destination. Adult sex travel includes domestic travel, for example, by an adult from California, USA, to Nevada, USA for the purpose of having sex with prostitutes, as prostitution is illegal in California and legal in parts of Nevada where it is widely advertised, organized and legally promoted. International adult sex tourism is the term applied when the traveler crosses national borders for these purposes.

Adult sex tourism is a multibillion dollar industry that supports an international workforce estimated to number in the millions. Adult sex tourism has been viewed by some people as benefitting not only the sex work industry but the airline, taxi, restaurant, and hotel industries.

Child sex tourism

Child sex tourism is a multi-billion-dollar criminal industry believed to victimize as many as 2 million children around the world. In an effort to counteract CST, many governments have enacted laws to allow prosecution of its citizens, for child abuse that occurs outside of their home country.

Legal issues in the United States

Federal law (see PROTECT Act of 2003) prohibits United States citizens or permanent residents to engage in international travel with the purpose or effect of having commercial sex with a person under the age of 18, or any sex with a person under the age of 16; facilitating such travel is also illegal. Arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement are becoming common; however, prosecutions under this law are still very rare.

As of 2005, there has been one effort to prosecute a sex tour operator: Big Apple Oriental Tours of New York was prosecuted for "promotion of prostitution" by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer after lobbying by feminist human rights groups; however, the case has been thrown out twice.

HR 972, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 reauthorizes the 2000 law, but it also gives U.S. law enforcement better tools to study human trafficking within the United States and to prosecute those who purchase sex acts. The measure authorizes $50 million for grants to state and local law enforcement to investigate and prosecute persons who engage in the purchase of commercial sex acts.

Legal issues in the United Kingdom

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 enables British citizens and residents who commit sexual offences against children overseas to be prosecuted in the UK. Some of the offences carry penalties of up to life imprisonment and anyone found guilty will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register. The UK police and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre and Interpol are actively involved in monitoring child sex tourists and will prosecute where necessary.

Witnesses can report it to the local police, hotel manager, tour representative or tour operator. Witnesses can also call Crimestoppers when they return to the UK. A cash reward may be available.

Legal issues in Canada

Canada has included in its Criminal Code provisions that allow for the arrest and prosecution of Canadians in Canada for offences committed in foreign countries related to child sex tourism, such as child prostitution, as well as for child sexual exploitation offences, such as indecent acts, child pornography and incest. Convictions carry a penalty of up to 14 years' imprisonment.

Legal issues in Australia

Part III A of the Commonwealth Crimes Act contains a number of provisions relating to child sex tourism by Australian citizens and residents making it an offence for an Australian citizen or an Australian resident in a foreign country to engage in sexual intercourse or commit or submit to an act of indecency with a person under the age of 16, irrespective of whether the conduct would also be a criminal offence under the law of the foreign country (a situation which can arise where the local age of consent is lower than 16).

In 2005, approximately 20 paedophiles from Australia who attempted to travel to tsunami ravaged countries were stopped under the rules of the new Australian child sex offender register. The convicted offenders had to tell police of their plans to travel, and their travel details were sent by police to Indonesian and Thai authorities, who refused them entry. Child Wise director Bernadette McMenamin confirmed that authorities had known paedophiles would be targeting children in countries that had been hit by the tsunami. She said it was well known that when countries experienced natural disasters or military crises paedophiles exploited the instability. "Post-tsunami we expected that a lot of Australian child sex offenders would target these countries," she said. Further plans to cancel passports of recidivist paedophiles to prevent child sex tourism in general, and exploitation of natural and political instability in countries targeted by sex tourists in particular, are in the works in Australia.

Academic study

University of Leicester sociologists studied this subject as part of a research project for the Economic and Social Research Council and End Child Prostitution and Trafficking campaign. The study included interviews with over 250 Caribbean sex tourists. Among their findings:

• Preconceptions about race and gender influenced their opinions.
• Economically underdeveloped tourist-receiving countries are promoted as being culturally different so that (in the Western tourist's understanding) prostitution and traditional male domination of women have less stigma than similar practices might have in their home countries.

The study received heavy criticism as it failed to address female sex tourism. The phenomenon of cultural difference could equally apply to the prostitution of disadvantaged local males to rich western women. Thus, the whole interpretation of sex tourism as being dependent on male domination of women could actually be the domination of the rich over the poor of whatever sex. This is especially true in the Caribbean, which is well often consider a focal point for female sex tourism.

Documentaries

Canadian film makers have been active at reporting on sex tourism. Documentary titles include:

• Falang: Behind Bangkok's Smile by Jordon Clark (2005) (this title at IMDb), set in Thailand
• CBC series the Lens episode "Selling Sex in Heaven" (2005) (this title at IMDb), set in the Philippines.
• Channel 4 Cutting Edge episode "The Child Sex Trade" (2003), set in Romania, Italy
• Sex Tourism on Talking Points from Channel4.com

See also

• ECPAT
• Cuban jiniterismo
• Prostitution in Thailand
• Prostitution in the Philippines
• Tourist apartheid
• Trafficking in human beings

References

1. ^ "WTO Statement On The Prevention Of Organized Sex Tourism". Adopted by the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization at its eleventh session - Cairo (Egypt), 17-22 October 1995 (Resolution A/RES/338 (XI)). Cairo (Egypt): World Tourism Organization. 17–22 October 1995. Retrieved 2006-12-20. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: date format (link)
2. U.N. Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI) Gender Mainstreaming Mandates
3. U.N. Congress On The Prevention Of Crime And The Treatment Of Offenders Press Release New Global Treaty to Combat Sex Slavery of Women and Girls
4. "UNWTO World Tourism Barometer June 2008" (PDF). World Tourism Organization. 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)Volume 6 No. 2
5. Cruey, Greg. "Thailand's Sex Industry". About: Asia For Visitors. About, Inc. (The New York Times Co.). Retrieved 2006-12-20. Nowhere else is it so open and prevalent.
6. "Brazil". The Protection Project. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-12-20. Brazil is a major sex tourism destination. Foreigners come from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Latin America, and North America ...
7. Gentile, Carmen J. (2006-02-02). "Brazil cracks down on child prostitution". San Francisco Chronicle. Chronicle Foreign Service. Retrieved 2006-12-20. ... young prostitutes strut in front of middle-aged American and European tourists ...
8. "Child exploitation not new to stricken region". CNN. Retrieved 2007-11-17. ... some resorts in Thailand Dubai, UAE and Sri Lanka, were so-called "sex tourist" destinations ...
9. "Child sex tourism spreading in Asia". CNN. Retrieved 2007-11-17. ... established sex tourist destinations like Thailand, the Philippines and Sri Lanka ...
10. "Dominican Republic". The Protection Project. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-12-20. The Dominican Republic is one of the most popular sex tourism destinations in the world, and it is advertised on the Internet as a "single man's paradise."
11. Scheeres, Julia (2001-07-07). "The Web, Where 'Pimps' Roam Free". Wired News. CondéNet Inc. Retrieved 2006-12-20.
12. Kovaleski, Serge F. (2000-01-02). "Child Sex Trade Rises In Central America". Washington Post Foreign Service. Washington Post Foreign Service. Retrieved 2006-12-20. ... "an accelerated increase in child prostitution" in the country ... blamed largely on the unofficial promotion of sex tourism in Costa Rica over the Internet. {{cite news}}: Check |archiveurl= value (help)
13. "Costa Rica". The Protection Project. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-12-20. ...has come to rival Thailand and the Philippines as one of the world's leading destinations for sex tourism.
14. "Cuba". The Protection Project. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-12-20. Cuba is a popular destination country for sex tourists from Canada, the United States, and Europe.
15. Zúñiga, Jesús. "Cuba: The Thailand of the Caribbean". The New West Indian. Retrieved 2006-12-20.
16. Hughes, Dana. "TSun, Safaris and Sex Tourism in Kenya". Travel. ABC News. Retrieved 2008-10-25. Tourists Gone Wild: 'They Come Here They Think "I Can Be Whatever I Want to Be" and That's How They Behave'
17. "Across the Siberian Wastes". Jim Rogers. Retrieved 2007-11-17. ... swarms of Russian prostitutes and Japanese johns on sex holidays ...
18. Fr. Shay Cullen (2005-03-03). "Sex Tourism Is Big Money for Pimps and Politicians". imc-qc (philapinas). QC Independent Media Centre. Retrieved 2007-04-08. Angeles City, two hours north of Metro Manila, is the home of the most organized sex industry in the Philippines. Thousands of sex tourists from all over the world go there to look for cheap sex, much of it with under age minors.
19. '50,000 Iraqi refugees' forced into prostitution
20. Desperate Iraqi Refugees Turn to Sex Trade in Syria
21. Iraqi refugees forced into prostitution
22. Clarke, Jeremy (2007-11-25). "Older white women join Kenya's sex tourists". Reuters. Retrieved 2007-11-30. Hard figures are difficult to come by, but local people on the coast estimate that as many as one in five single women visiting from rich countries are in search of sex.
23. Kuta Cowboys: The rodeo is in town everyday in Bali
24. Women going on sex tours look for big bamboos and Marlboro men, Pravda.Ru
25. Sex tourism: When women do it, it's called 'romance travelling'
26. How sex tourism became the basis of a Royal Court play | Travel | The Observer
27. http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/revista/articles/view/53
28. Kenya Tourism Exploitation, Chapter Two - Tourism, sex tourism and the economy
29. Janet Bagnall work=Montreal Gazette (2007). "Sex trade blights the lives of 2 million children; Canada is not doing enough to fight the international scourge of sex tourism". {{cite news}}: Missing pipe in: |author= (help)
30. Full copy of HR 972
31. Travelling Child Sex Offenders Foreign & Commonwealth Office
32. Child Sex Tourism: It's a Crime
33. "Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) Part IIIA".
34. "Predators barred from tsunami countries". Sydney Morning Herald. 2005. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
35. Sex Tourism in the Caribbean by Jacqueline Sanchez Taylor, University of Leicester. Chapter for Tourism, Travel and Sex, eds. Stephen Clift and Simon Carter, 1999
36. The New West Indian Sex tourists: survey
37. The Child Sex Trade Hardcash Productions
38. Sex Tourism Talking Points from Channel4.com

• Prostitution
• Types of tourism